AAAS Science and Human Rights Program

AAAS Project on Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Roundtable on Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property

On 14 December 2002, the Science and Human Rights Program hosted a roundtable on traditional knowledge and intellectual property at the headquarters of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva. The roundtable took place on Saturday after two days of debate in the Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge, and Folklore (IGC) on protection mechanisms for traditional knowledge. The roundtable was attended by approximately twenty-five participants, representing NGOs, funding organizations, academia, member-state representatives, indigenous organizations, and members of the WIPO secretariat itself. This was the first time that the various IGC NGO observers had been brought together with the WIPO IGC secretariat and member state delegates to informally discuss ideas and concerns relating to the work of WIPO on TK issues.